In my previous blog post I spoke about the need for practice and discipline. It is only through intelligent practice that you can make any kind of progress. This is true not only for meditation but for every avenue of life.

But keeping disciplined is often very tough. I am sure you have experienced making a promise with yourself to commit twenty minutes to practicing every day and not being able to fulfill it.

I have experienced that, trying to set goals for myself only for them to be disrupted by the course of life. Then we feel badly about not holding to our personal commitments.

On my spiritual journey I have felt this many times, and it continues to happen in small part. But I have developed personal strategies to help myself be better at sticking to my discipline.​I want to take this time to share with you the ways in which I have motivated myself to stay with my meditation and build my practice. These are some of the things that I do to this day to help me stay disciplined in my practice.

In my previous blog post I outlined the many challenges that arise in the practice of meditation. Hopefully in reading about them you have gained a better appreciation of the process and learning that takes place in our practice.

I recognize that the process may seem daunting. I have often felt discouraged and almost completely defeated, many times over, as I pursued that deeper spiritual connection. But I never let go of my dream.

The dream of inner freedom, self-understanding, and experiencing a deeper part of myself.​My master was highly influential in this process. His words and guidance always reminded me that it was possible. His very presence was the proof. Because I could feel that peace, love, and wisdom in him that I was seeking. His life was my evidence that I could have the same experience.

Meditation is presented as a very positive and uplifting experience. We always hear about the benefits of meditation and what it can do for us. I have even shared my belief in the positive power of meditation.

What we don’t hear is that meditation can be a challenging and frustrating experience. We don’t hear about how meditation can completely overturn our world.
​The reality is that you will benefit from meditation. It is a self-development tool and will help you to grow on many levels. But the process is a challenging one.

My History With Meditation

I remember practicing meditation as a teenager. Sometimes on a whim, I would go outside and sit cross-legged on the ground in the garden. I would close my eyes and I think I did a good impression of meditating.

But amidst my calm poise, kissed by the rain or the sun, my mind was never silent. I could use whatever technique I knew to no avail. I would sit for a few minutes at a time, no more than half an hour. Sometimes I felt there was some shift inside. But I could never describe the change, if there was any.
​ Most times I felt like it was a failure.

​Starting Meditation Feels Like A Chore

​In the past I had very little interest in meditation. Honestly it was not enjoyable for me. I would practice because I knew it was important to my yoga and my spiritual practice. But each time I sat for my twenty minutes it would always end in frustration.
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On occasion I would have some uplifting experience from it, and that is what would keep me coming back to work on it. To say that has always been fulfilling would be a lie.

Presenting Ms. Oraine Ramoo of Camhanach Counselling​

There are many layers to effective stress management.

I have known Oraine for a few years now and I have always been impressed with her work. She helps women to find greater balance in wellness in their lives. Because of her strong impact in the community I know that she holds some wisdom that we can benefit from and that is the reason I invited her to be a part of our stress management event.

Oraine has been providing support services to the women of Trinidad and Tobago for many years now and has a passion for holistic remedies. You can check out her professional practice page (www.camhanach.org) and passion project in aromatherapy candles (www.facebook.com/GardenOfGraceHandmade)

She was very happy to sit down and have this short chat with me (and Zara) about the landscape of stress and what she has seen from her clients. The conversation was very revealing and sparkled with her incredible personality.

These are the 5 points that were revealed (among many other insights):

1. Admitting to stress does not make you weak. We need to learn to validate ourselves and our needs. 2. You have to be willing to do the work to manage your stress meaningfully. 3. Develop a morning ritual to help you diffuse stress from your day.4. Begin building a stress management tool kit. 5. Learn to be true to yourself and go after what you need to be more in balance.

What was amazing for me was to see the principles of Yoga shining in all of these insights that she revealed to us. Through the holistic and spiritual practice of Yoga many of these same ideas are developed and explored. We only had a few minutes to chat but it was incredibly enlightening. I hope that you find it resonates with you and inspires you to work on the stress in your life.

What was your important take away from this conversation? Do leave me a comment on your inspiration and what you will do moving forward to manage your stress more wisely.

Stress management is not unknown. I think that we all recognize the need for dealing with it more wisely in our lives. But it may be very difficult to begin integrating stress management strategies into our already full workload.

Everyday we feel as though we are drowning in responsibilities. Everyday we feel that we just adding to the stress. And although we may understand theoretically how to improve our stress levels - we may not know how to implement it in our lives meaningfully.

I know that some people have a hard time simply getting home to have dinner after work because of traffic, kids, and numerous other realities of the day. So how on earth do we fit in MORE things to do - like exercise, meditation, relaxation - in order to deal with our stress?

This is one of the secrets of Yoga. Genuine yoga is meant to be integrated into our daily life activities - not just practicing postures for 30 minutes. Let me share with you how to use simple practices in Yoga to transform your daily stress experience without having to take extra time in your day.​

For many of us stress has become a heavy burden. It negatively influences every area of our life and consistently stands in the way of our personal success. Our current society is steeped in so much stress that it has actually become a national health crisis.

Yet stress is not unknown and not unconscious. Many people are aware that they are stressed and often seek a variety of personal solutions. We all know that we need to have a personal stress management strategy and to some degree have employed that in our lives. So why is it still such a big problem on the individual and societal level?

It is because most stress management strategies do not address the root cause of stress. We are mostly working with the symptoms of stress.

This is the reason why most stress management strategies fail. Because even when the strategy is well researched, well endorsed, and well marketed - that does not change the fact that it is not dealing with the SOURCE of stress. Knowing the source of stress is an important detail to an effective stress management strategy.

​The Science of Yoga has long been conscious of the source of stress and how to manage it purposefully. Let us explore it together.

In this blog post we explore four fundamentals of Yoga. I have found that these fundamentals make a huge difference to the quality of our yoga practice. They are what I have discovered from sharing the invisible principles of yoga that are beyond the body with my classes.

These fundamentals are hidden in every yoga practice, yet many practitioners new and experienced, may have trouble identifying them. Explore the four fundamentals with me!

Yoga is NOT stretching! Yoga is so much more than physical exercise. It is a complete holistic system for our lives. It is a practice that can help us to improve on every level and become conscious of the spiritual dimension deep within us.